Pitless pump



V. L. ANDREW PITLEss PUMP Feb. 4, 1941.

Filed Dec. l0, 1938 pIIN VEN TOR. n 55mm.

........... f ,v i ci? 2 ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFICE PITLESS PUNIP Vaughan L. Andrew, Superior, Wis. Applieetien December 1o, 193s, seriel'Ne. 244,963

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in water pumping apparatus and particularly to the type which has its discharge and other water carrying parts below the surface of the ground a suflicient distance to be below frost line to avoid freezing or for any other reason where it is desired to have the discharge below the surface of the ground. The most common method now in use is to locate the water carry- 10 ing parts in a pit, which is objectionable from a sanitary standpoint. This invention eliminates the pit.

Since access to the Working parts of such a pump, as well as any repairs or the like to the well, must be had through the casing, it is an object of the invention to avoid in any way the necessity of reducing the diameter of the casing for such access.

It is a further object of the invention to produce an improved form of support for all of the working parts of the pump, the same being suspended directly by and from the upper end of the casing.

A still further object of the invention is that of providing a novel form of seal against pollution from above ground for the upper end of the well casing in conjunction with the suspending means for the pump mechanism.

In this type of pump the casing therefor terminates slightly above ground level, and since, in most parts of the country, frost is encountered during the winter season, it is an object of the invention to provide means whereby the freezing of the ground about that part of the casing above the frost line will not dislodge or heave the casing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a broken central vertical sectional View, partly in elevation, of one embodiment of the invention adapted for use with an open end pumping cylinder.

Figure 2 is a similar view of certain features of the invention as applied to the water distributor within the discharge head for use with a common cylinder pump installation.

f. It is well known that somewhat similar arrangements of discharge head and extensions of l,the casing in such wells have been resorted to but not without material reduction in the capacity of the casing, and usually with the instal- (Cl. 10S- 179) lation being suspended from such reduction of the discharge head, such installations in many instances having proven unsatisfactory; thus the obvious advantage of the simple arrangement of my instant invention without having to reduce 5 the size of the casing, and the suspension from the extreme upper end thereof above the surface of the ground.

In the drawing, I represents that portion of an ordinary well casing below a` discharge head 10 2, it being screw threadedly applied to said casing, while 3 represents that portion of the well casing above the discharge head and which is screw threadedly applied thereto. This latter portion 3 of the well casing .may be of any length 15 desired, but as it, together with the discharge head, is designed to function particularly in lieu of a pit, resulting in the so-called pitless pump installation, it is usually of relatively short length, not necessarily extending materially be- 20 low the frost line.

It is to be noted that the bore of the discharge head 2 is substantially the same size as the innermost diameter of the casing both above and below s-ame, so that the piston-like water distrib- 25 utor 4, carried by the drop pipe 5--6 may be readilyapplied or removed from the discharge head through that portion of the casing 3 above same.

The water distributor 4 has both portions 5 and 30 6 of the drop pipe axially screw threaded thereinto,` and is provided upon both ends externally of said drop pipe with suitable cup leather seals 1, such having means, commonly known in the art, for insuring an efficient and durable sealing 35 device, or expansion coupling, and arranged to prevent any possibility of leakage in either direction past the distributor. This member is also provided with the usua1 radially arranged openings 8 to permit of water coming upwardly from 40 the piston 4I of the pump and discharging laterally through the pipe 9, and the expansive cup leather seals are clearly illustrated as each being held in position upon its respective end of the distributor as by a suitable annulus II) and screw 45 bolts Il. y

As in all such installations the packing tube illustrated at I2 for the pump piston rod I3 is above the water distributor and attached to the centermost portion thereof, although it maybe 50 below the same, if preferred. However in my installation I have shown such connection as including the nut-like bushing I4 which carries centrally therein the lower end of the packing tube I2 and is screw threadedly mounted within 55 the upper end of the water distributor 4 so that in such an installation when an open end pumping cylinder is employed, a socket wrench not here illustrated may be lowered into that portion of the drop pipe illustrated at 5 and above the water distributor and engage the nut-like bushing I4 and remove same for the convenient removal of the pump piston and piston rod without further disturbing the water distributor, this being deemed a marked improvement in the art.

The usual packing about the pump piston rod I3 above the water distributor and within the packing tube l2 is illustrated at l5, and in the event of untoward leakage into the drop pipe section 5 there is provided a drainage opening I6' at the lower end thereof into the vertical pas,-` sageway Il ina lateral enlargement of the otherwise cylindrical water distributor 4. ThisA` drain passageway or vent is continuous from one end to the rother of the water distributor l as clearly illustrated, so as to provide drainage downwardly into the well. However such drainage hole is only intended to care for any moisture that may occur within the well and not from externally thereof, as an adequate novel seal is provided at the upper end of the casing, well above the surface of the adjacent ground, and such sealing means is novel in that it is directly associated .with the suspending means for the previously described water distributor and discharge head as well as the pumping instrumentalities.

This suspending means and seal at the upper end of the casing comprises an inverted circular cap-like member i8, designed to rest upon the upper end of the casing section 3, with its inverted frustro-conically shaped central portion I9 depending within said casing and having the drop pipe section 5 screw threadedly attached therein. A somewhat similarly shaped circular inverted cap-like member 20 is, when installation takes place, first installed about the upper end of the casing section 3, it being held thereabouts by any desired number of tap bolts or screws `2| through the depending central portion 22 thereof and in the upper inner extremity of which portion is formed a stepped recess or seat for a suitable packing illustrated at 23. It is preferred to have this packing consist of partially pre-shaped lead to form as nearly as possible a smooth flat seat coincident with the marginal edge of said recess in the member 2l), after the leadpacking has been properly caulked. This seatis deemed essential for cooperation with the iinal installation of the softer composition packing ring 24 which is installed about the extreme upper end of the casing section 3 and as nearly as practical for such tight joint ilush with the upper extremity of the casing.

Above this assembly of suspending and sealing parts is installed the base of the particular power means for operating the pump, in this instance being a third cap-like member 25 having a circular flanged portion 26 through which a suitable number of bolts 2l are installed, these bolts reaching through their respective slotted openings in similarly shaped portions of the caps l and 2U and acting as uniting and holding members for such parts, there being suitable stepped annular recesses registering about the inner openings of the two uppermost members |=8 and 25-26 for the reception of the ring-like packing for gasket member 28 to insure against any leakage occurring intermediate of the members I8. and 25-25- The member 25-25 is further novel in that at one side it is enlarged as by the boss-like lateral projection 29 having a screw-threaded opening 3G therethrough for attachment of any desired air vent not shown, and to insure a further non-leaking union above same, this member 25-26, about the extension tube v3l is provided with a stuiing gland indicated at 32, thereby forming an adequate drop pipe seal.

llnasmuch as that portion of the well casing 3 above the discharge head is liable to be subject to the heaving effects of frost, I have provided novel means for the installation and support of suitable plastic cement indicated at 33 byv placing relatively short sections of sheet metal tubing, similar in construction to stove pipe sections, though sufficiently short in length for the convenient placing and packing of plastic cement in each section successively as one is placed upon the other about the casing 3 above the dischargeliead;A the upper end of the latter acting preferably as a base for such cement installation. InY this manner there is provided a practical yieldable armour about the upper end of the casing to prevent its being damaged by the action of frost and furthermore one most readily applied in the process of installation of such a pitless pump. When application of this plastic material is made, the convenience of the surrounding form of relatively thin telescopic sheet metal, being made in short lengths, is obvious,` as the lowermost one is filled iirst and properly packed, thenY another one is placed telescopically thereon, filled and packed, and-sro on, resulting in a very satisfactoryinstallation.

In Figure 2 of the drawing is illustrated an assembly of drop pipe and water distributor for installation within a discharge head identical with that shown in Figure 1, and wherein the water distributor is illustrated at 34, the leather cup seals at E5, and the drop pipe at 3,6, while the packing tube is shown at v3l and the pump piston rod at 38. The lateral enlargement of the Water distributor above referred to is more clearly illustrated at 39 and through which the drain hole is formed.

In this form or modification of the device, the upper end of the Water distributor is provided with the internally screw threaded extension lil which may be of square or hexagonal shape as desired for application of a Wrench in the removal or installation of parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In a pumping apparatus, the combination with a well casing, of a drop pipe, a pump supported on the lower end of said drop pipe, said pump and drop pipe being suspended from the upper end of said casing, a flanged coupling member for external application about the upper end of said casing, and a cooperative flanged cap member, said cap member having a central concaved chamber therein and an air vent leading from said chamber upwardly through said cap.

2. In a pumping apparatus, the combination with a well casing, a drop pipe, and a pump supported on the lower end of said drop pipe, of a drop pipe hanger having a flange resting upon the upper end of said well casing and suspending said drop pipe within said casing, a flanged coupling member for external application about the upper end of said casing and beneath the hanger flange, and a cooperative flanged cap member resting upon said hanger iiange, and means for securing the anges of said members and hanger together to form a seal for the upper end of said well casing.

3. In a pitless pump of the type described having a water discharge below the frost line, an armour including plastic material about lthe casing of said pump above said discharge, and a thin sheet metal casing in relatively short telescopic sections about said plastic material and forming part of said armour.

4. In a pitless pump of the type described having a casing and a water discharge within said casing below the frost line, the combination of a plurality of short sheet metal telescopic sections about that portion of said casing above said water discharge, and plastic material intermediate of said sections and casing providing an armour about said casing to prevent heaving b-y the action of frost.

5. In a pumping apparatus, the combination with a well casing, a drop pipe, and a pump supported upon the lower end of said drop pipe, of a drop pipe hanger having a ange resting directly upon the upper end of said well casing and suspending said drop pipe and pump within said casing, a anged coupling member for external .application about the upper end of said casing, a cooperative anged cap member resting on said drop pipe hanger, and means for clamping together the flanges of the cap member, the drop pipe hanger, and the coupling member to form a seal for the upper end of the well casing.

6. In a pumping apparatus, a well casing having a discharge head therein provided with a lateral discharge opening, said. well casing and discharge head being of substantially the same inside diameter, a drop pipe axially disposed within vsaid casing, a water distributor intermediate of the ends of said drop pipe Within and spaced from the discharge head and having a discharge opening spaced from and approximately opposite the opening of said discharge head, yieldable sealing means at either end of said distributor and spaced apart a distance materially greater than the diameter of said lateral discharge opening, for sealing the space between the distributor and discharge head on opposite sides of said discharge openings, whereby exact registration of said cooperative parts is not essential to proper operation.

7. The combination substantially as set forth in claim 6, wherein said drop pipe and distributor are suspended directly from the upper end of said well casing.

8. In a pumping apparatus, the combination of a well casing for installation within the ground, a discharge head installed in and forming part of said well casing below the normal frost line of the ground and having a lateral outlet, said casing and discharge head being of substantially the same inside diameter, a drop pipe within said casing, a Water distributor installed intermediate the ends of said drop pipe within and spaced from the discharge head and having a lateral outlet spaced from and approximately opposite the outlet of said discharge head, and yieldable sealing means at either end of said distributor, spaced apart longitudinally a distance materially greater than the diameter of said discharge head outlet, for sealing the lateral space between the distributor and discharge head and whereby exact registration of said lateral outlets is not essential to proper operation.

VAUGHAN L. ANDREW. 

